Convention delay brings mixed feelings for La Cañada delegate

TAMPA, Fla. – Noting concerns about Tropical Storm Isaac, Republican officials announced late Saturday they would be severely curtaining the scheduled Monday programming – a decision that left at least one local delegate with mixed feelings.

La Cañada physician Greggory DeVore, who specializes in fetal ultrasound, said he was disappointed that he would not be able to see Monday’s keynote speaker, Ann Romney, and hoped she would be rescheduled. In fact, officials announced that Romney, the wife of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, would speak Tuesday evening.

In any event, DeVore said a shorter convention schedule might not necessarily be a bad thing.

“I suspect that the effect of the ‘condensed’ convention will only distill the speakers, allowing those with the most pertinent messages to speak,” he said in an email.

DeVore said from the window of his hotel room Sunday morning in nearby St. Pete Beach, where the California Republican delegation is staying, the weather looks perfect. But the conventioneers are getting prepared.

“This morning we will receive our welcome kits,” he said. “I am told the contents of each bag will contain items that could be used in a hurricane!”